November 27, 2003

Gunshot - all healed

I've posted a few times about my nephew's accidental gunshot wound. It's been about 2 1/2 months, and amazingly, he has healed with no major permanent damage aside from some nasty scarring. Two pictures of the wound from back in September - and two pictures from today - are posted here (Warning: these are graphic pictures of a bad wound).

September 12, 2003

Gunshot - part 3

Well now, after less than a week, my nephew gets to go home from the hospital tomorrow! He's already been taking walks with crutches and putting weight on the injured leg. Amazing. It turns out that - through some miracle - the gunshot did not damage the bone, nor any nerves, nor any major blood vessels. This is still a nasty wound, however, as evidenced by a couple of pictures taken yesterday (WARNING: These pictures are a bit graphic; two pictures of the wound can be seen here)

He's still, of course, got plenty of healing to do, and will be going to the hospital each day for a while to get the wound's dressing changed. To have such a bad injury, however, and to be healing so quickly is incredible!

September 10, 2003

Gunshot - followup

We went and visited my nephew in the hospital this evening. Yesterday he was told that he would be in the hospital for at least several weeks. After his 2nd surgery (first was yesterday evening; second was this morning), they said he's looking much better than they'd thought and may be going home in a few days. He'll still have a long period of rehabilitation.

September 08, 2003

Gunshot

Well, I've never spent my evening cleaning up after a gunshot -- until today. My nephew ended up shooting himself in the leg, so while he was going into surgery, my wife and sister and I cleaned up the blood at his house.

Good Lord, this is so surreal!

I am not a fan of guns. I was trained when I was younger in gun safety and how to shoot rifles, shotguns, and handguns. I don't like it. We don't own guns. In my nephew's case, he and his family are what one would have considered careful gun owners. The guns were kept in a safe. But only one gun had a trigger lock on it. It turns out that the other gun - the one without the lock - had a bullet in it. The guns needed to be moved, as some painting was going to be done in the house. Well apparently, while moving the guns, the one went off. My nephew was the only one home and fortunately had the focus to be able to call the police/ambulance, and to call his mom.

I never would have thought that I would spend an evening of my life cleaning up someone's blood after a gunshot wound! We don't live in a "bad" part of town. We're a "normal" family, regular jobs, etc. This is why I do not like guns -- gun accidents happen too easily.

So this evening my nephew was very lucky. He's undergoing surgery. He'll need some lengthy rehabilitation, but should be OK overall.